I. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a window pane with a safety element and a window or a door fitted with such a window pane.
II. Description of Related Art
European patent application EP 0 319 695 A1 discloses a structure of plates to be assembled to a supporting structure for the formation of a facade or a roof in a building. The structure of plates consists of a glass insulating plate made of several panes and a supporting frame bonded to the rear edge of the plates. The bonded assembly is, in this instance, attached by mechanical supports placed at certain points. The individual supports are assembled fixedly to the outer edge of the structure of plates for the formation of a structural unit, without extending up to their front outer face. They couple via the rear, furthermore without contact, a girdle of the supporting frame oriented toward the structure of plates. The anchoring of the supports to the outer pane may for example be provided such that the supports engage in notches in the peripheral rim of the outer pane of the glass insulating plate. In another embodiment, the supports engage in certain locations in a U-channel placed in the hollow peripheral space of the glass insulating plate.
European patent application EP 0 320 674 A2 relates to a plate consisting of individual panes with retention and/or safety members. The aforementioned plate consists of two sheets of glass bonded, by means of a layer of transparent adhesive, to one another and with first edge portions of the retention and/or safety members penetrating into the latter. The retention and/or safety members consist essentially of a flexible pad, which is preferably formed by a threaded fabric. The second edge portion of the retention and/or safety member emerging from the plate is attached to an infrastructure. When the plate is assembled to another pane oriented toward the infrastructure, in the manner of an insulating glazing unit, the outward-oriented plate is protected against destruction in the event of this assembly being ruined.
German utility model DE 20 2004 005 639 U1 discloses an explosion-prevention sash-glass composite which consists of a glass plate consisting of several panes and a metal channel frame receiving the glass plate. Between the individual panes of the glass plate there is a band of fabric or of plastic material with high tear strength bonded so that a pad of the band of fabric or of plastic material emerges from the glass plate. This pad is fed at right angles around the front face of the glass plate in the direction of the face situated opposite the effect of the explosion, and bonded, or bonded and additionally screwed to the metal channel frame.
European patent application EP 1 035 295 A2 discloses a window exposed to a pressure wave, in which the retention elements attached to the window sash are placed on the face of the window situated opposite the pressure wave. The retention elements are outside the window pane, consist of steel or plastic cables and contain energy-absorbing devices, for example elements with springs. If a pressure wave occurs, the window pane is deformed, is blown out of the window sash and is held by the retention elements. In this manner, the axial movement of the window pane toward the inside of the premises is prevented and the kinetic energy is nullified.
The solutions known in the prior art for attaching window panes have various disadvantages.
For example, when one end of the safety elements is placed in the intermediate layer of laminated panes consisting of several individual panes assembled together over the whole surface and another end is fed laterally out of the laminated pane (EP 0 320 674 A2, DE 20 2004 005 639 U1), the laminated panes must be manufactured separately for each size of window. It is not possible to cut the laminated panes in a large plate of standard dimensions, as for the manufacture of other windows. Because of this, the costs increase substantially due to individual or short-run manufacture.
This is also valid for the solutions in which the outer plate of a window pane is provided with reliefs or bevels to which the retention elements can be coupled. There is also here a costly operation of machining (of the glass). In the embodiment according to document EP 0 319 695 A1, there arises an additional disadvantage in that the glass insulating plates are assembled rigidly to the infrastructure or to a sash by means of supports. When this solution must be used for a glazing unit attenuating a pressure or shock wave, the infrastructure or the sash with its possible battens for attaching the glass and the glass insulating plates must be dimensioned so as to withstand the impulsion generated by this load. Nor must the glass insulating plates deform under the load to the point of being blown out of their sash. The dimensions of the various components must in this case be relatively voluminous and solid.
The aforementioned disadvantages are certainly not present in the retention elements known via document EP 1 035 295 A2, because they elastically capture the window pane blown out of its sash by a shock wave. The retention elements consisting of wires or cables, visible from the outside, however prevent the clear view through the window and unfavorably influence the appearance of the window or even of the whole building.